The health of the nation at the moment is paramount, the minister and employers said. We have made a recommendation that chronic patients over the age of 65, single parents and parents of children under the age of 12, where possible, work from home, said Djordjevic.
An extraordinary session of the Social and Economic Council was chaired in Belgrade, chaired by Minister of Labor, Employment, Veterans’ and Social Affairs Zoran Djordjevic. The topic of the session is the current epidemiological situation.
Anyone who can work from home during a state of emergency is entitled to full pay under current regulations, says Labor Minister Zoran Djordjevic.
After the extraordinary session of the Socio-Economic Council, he stressed that the Government Decree, concerning the work of employers, provided for the organization of telework during the state of emergency – work from home, wherever possible. “Such work is paid in the same amount as when he works at the firm”, Djordjevic said.
Where it is not possible to organize work from home, according to the Minister, the employer is obliged to organize work in shifts, to ensure hygienic safety of facilities, to organize all meetings electronically, to postpone business trips.
“For employees who share a work space with more people or who are in contact with other people to provide protective equipment”, the minister said, adding that the inspection would more intensively control the facilities, that shop owners who did not obtain protection for employees would be penalized, and actions closed.
He stated that everyone who is in self-isolation under the current regulations on sick leave, paid leave or if they can do the same job as they do in the company, are entitled to full pay.
Asked if the plan is to adopt a binding measure or recommendation in Serbia for parents who have children under the age of 12 to stay at home, Djordjevic said the Government’s recommendation already exists.
“We have made a recommendation that chronic patients over the age of 65, single parents and parents of children under the age of 12 should be given the opportunity to work from home”, Djordjevic said.
The President of the Union of Employers of Serbia, Milos Nenezic, stressed that the most important for businessmen is the inflow of raw materials and delivery of finished goods, that they depend on transport and that special attention must be paid to this.
It is important, he notes, to monitor the situation in the surrounding countries as well, because of the measures they are taking to prevent the spread of the new virus corona.
He states that it is important to use all means to avoid dismissal of workers. “It is important for the financial system to continue to operate smoothly”, Nenezic stressed.
The president of the “Independence” union Zoran Stojiljkovic emphasized that special care must be taken to protect workers who at this moment must work hard, such as health workers, customs… “I do not see that employees in self-service wear gloves, masks”. Stojiljkovic emphasized and added that it is important for everyone to show responsibility at this point.
He points out that no economic consequences for the economy can be foreseen at the moment, but that it is important to keep some kind of permanent projection, Kurir writes.
